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Thanks for the recommendation! I haven’t read that one, I’ll definitely check it out

Ceremonial does not necessarily equal non-functional; swords benefit from being sharp, but when you start thinking of a sword as a thin, flat piece of metal moving at 50 mph it becomes clear sharpness isn't necessary.

I had a drill sergeant roll with me on fire watch duty, one time in basic. I had trained under a Renzo Gracie brown belt for a while before joining and I smoked him. The agreement was, if I win and don’t tell anyone there would be no consequences. We both kept our word. I mean, I’m telling you now, but that doesn’t count. He just didn’t want to risk having to deal with any disrespect from other privates.

I would guess that they became more common kicking in doors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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I’ve never read Double Cross have to take a look at it. If you like spy books Spy: The Inside Story of how the FBI’s Robert Hanssen Betrayed America by David Wise is outstanding you might enjoy it if you haven’t read it already.

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More of a large knife at that point (blade length of 8”-13”). You’re probably right at the boundary line with the longer ones.

Seconded. I just finished Spy Among Friends today, really enjoyed it. Absolutely fascinating look at Philby. Really liked Spy and the Traitor too!

Double Cross is still my favorite of MacIntyre’s work.

And really, what better way to honor Nixon's passing than to knock someone off their feet?

If it’s on a rifle sure, what about just the bayonet?

I’ve always felt cheated out of this. We were set to do pugel matches the day after Nixon died. So it was skipped over.

Good I'll check that out that link

When I went to Basic back in ‘02 they still did bayonet training. Culmination at the end was the pugel matches, only chance we had to actually knock our drill sergeants off their feet legally.

Italy had just invaded the Ottoman Empire in 1911. It seems unlikely they would have joined the Ottomans in a defensive alliance in 1914.

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True, but they saw how every other power’s plans for quick and glorious victory fell apart and still deluded themselves into pulling that trigger

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Not that I know of. Infantry saber as a fencing system existed, but only officers were taught.

Thomas Matthewson of the Salisbury Volunteer Rifles during the Napoleonic Wars in England had his regiment drop thier bayonets in favor of infantry sabers, claiming the saber was far superior to the bayonet in close melees. Here's a copy of his curriculum.

The superiority of the saber over the bayonet in close quarters was a debate in the early 19th century British military, but sabers were rarely issued in the army outside of officers. Matthewson was a rare case.

>got caught up in Napoleonic ideas of glory and assumed easy victory

Along with pretty much everyone else in Europe.

I've heard that the US army axed thier bayonet course from training, but I don't know for certain. I knew the marines still did.

After WWI bayonet as a martial art was heavily streamlined and simplified as large melees became less and less commonplace.

I've seen movies that depict Japanese officers leading banzai charges with their swords drawn. A quick glance at the wiki shows it was generally a last ditch effort before the Japanese lines fell, and it was not very effective against an organized US force.

Though apparently there was some success against poorly equipped Chinese.